ENCE’s board announced on Oct. 26 that ENCE eSports Oy would file for bankruptcy after 13 years in esports. The organization thanked its players, staff, partners, and fans in the announcement.
End of an era 💔 pic.twitter.com/2927yh5fd3
— ENCE (@ENCE) October 26, 2026
ENCE’s history in StarCraft II and Counter-Strike
Joona “Serral” Sotala represented ENCE in StarCraft II from 2016 to 2023, winning dozens of tournaments. His titles included IEM Katowice 2022 and the 2018 WCS Global Finals, where he became the first non-Korean player to win the championship.
Counter-Strike’s all-Finnish ENCE roster emerged in 2018 with Aleksi “aleksib” Virolainen, Aleksi “allu” Jalli, Jere “sergej” Salo, Sami “xseven” Laasanen, and Jani “Aerial” Jussila. The team won StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6, reached the IEM Katowice 2019 Major final, then beat Astralis 2-0 in the BLAST Open Madrid final.
ENCE’s Counter-Strike teams collected three event MVP awards. Two came in 2019 with the all-Finnish lineup led by Aleksib, while Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer’s international roster added another in 2023. That roster took shape in a 2022 rebuild around Snappi and coach Eetu “sAw” Saha, with Álvaro “SunPayus” García and Guy “NertZ” Iluz among its players. It won IEM Dallas 2023 before ENCE sold its core to Team Falcons in December of that year.
A 2024 rebuild beat HEROIC in the Elisa Espoo final, giving Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander his last Counter-Strike trophy as a player. ENCE struggled to move beyond Tier 2 and Tier 3 competition afterward, as roster instability kept the team from returning to form in Counter-Strike 2.
The organization promoted its Finnish academy lineup in April 2026 and brought allu in as head coach in June. At the time of the bankruptcy announcement, ENCE sat 103rd in the global VRS rankings and had not appeared at an MVP event since September 2024.
ENCE’s current lineup
- Teemu “teme” Korva
- Aleksi “millert” Lehtopuu
- Giorgi “Schwarz” Gakhokidze
- Joe “joeski” Holmes
- Henri “HENU” Ylilehto
Aleksi “allu” Jalli is the team’s coach.
Which chapter of ENCE’s 13-year run do you remember most, the all-Finnish Counter-Strike roster, Serral’s StarCraft II career, or something else? Follow updates on the bankruptcy filing and the current team’s status on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
